SOCI 326 1st Edition Lecture 10OBJECTIVE & BACKGROUNDFor many years social scientists, religious experts and the general public have been debating whether or not or to what extent religion is declining. For many years it was common sense (especially among social scientists) that as societies became more modern religion would have less influence. This basic idea has been central to secularization theory. And, over the last twenty years or so there have been debates – sometimes quite heated – regarding whether secularization theory was true (cf. Wilson) or false and therefore should be abandoned (cf. Stark).For this assignment you will comment on the week’s readings (Emerson et al. “Ch. 5:News Flash God’s Not Dead (and Neither is the Goddess!)” and Stark, “Secularization, RIP.”We will discuss Chaves, “Religion Abides” and the Yukich et al. article, “The Trouble with Tebowing” in class. (They will be an important component of Group Memo #2.)The assignment has three parts: (1) read the assigned readings and write a short 1-2 page memo answering the questions below; (2) bring your essay – either a paper or digital copy (e.g. on yourlaptop) and the readings to class; and, (3) during class, you (and your group) will answer questions about the readings posed by the professor. Your essay or memo is your ticket to the class. In each small group one person will be designated the recorder and they will jot down responses of fellow students. You (and your group) will submit the notes to the professor at the end of class.ADVICE FOR THE READINGS:Emerson et al. (Ch. 5, read entire)Stark, “Secularization, RIP” (especially pp. 255-260 where Stark debunks claims regarding the“age of faith” and subsequent “decline” of religion. Plus, read the Conclusion, pp. 269-270.)Q1) What is secularization? What does it mean to study secularization at the societal,organizational and individual level of analysis?Q2) Some critics, such as Stark, suggest secularization theory should be abandoned because it has failed to explain the past or present status of religion. In his article, “Secularization: RIP”, Stark argues that secularization theory postulated an “age of faith.”What was the “age of faith”? How does Stark dispute the “common sense” regarding the age of faith”?Q3) Stark has been a key contributor to theoretical explanations of religion’s continued vitality. What evidence do authors such as Stark gather to support the claim of religion’s continued vitality? (NB: Stark discusses a number of studies on this point in his article. Feel free to read them. However, for this memo, you are only expected to be familiar with the discussion in the textbook.)Q4) Are the theories of secularization and religious vitality complementary?Contradictory? (Something else?) Briefly, explain your response.ASSIGNMENT DETAILS:Answer the above questions (Q1-Q4) on 1-2 double-spaced pages. Use 1-inch margins andTimes New Roman 12-point font. Submit the paper in pdf format.Please submit the assignment online to eCampus prior to class and bring a hardcopy or a digitalcopy to